Sometimes, the term "Emperor of India" is also used to refer to Indian emperors such as Ashoka the Great of theMaurya Dynasty[1] and Emperor Akbar of the Mughal empire . However, they did not claim this title for themselves.

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Although the Mughal dynasty ruled over most of the Indian subcontinent from the 16th century onwards, they simply used the title badshah (considered in the West to be the same as emperor). However dring the Indian rebellion of 1857 against the British, the rebel sepoys seized Delhi and called the Mughal Bahadur Shah II as Badshah-i Hind, or Emperor of India. After the Brtish defeated the rebels, he was captured and was forced to live in Rangoon, Burma in 1858, this ended the rule of the Mughals.

Prime MinisterBenjamin Disraeli is usually credited with creating the title for her.[2] Also, the title was created when it became evident that Queen Victoria's daughter, Victoria, Princess Royal, would become an empress when her husband ascended the German imperial throne, many people thought it was wrong for the daughter to be an empress while her mother was just a Queen.

When signing their name for Indian business, a British King-Emperor or the Queen-Empress used the initials R I (Rex/Regina Imperator/Imperatrix) or the shorter version Ind. Imp. (Indiae Imperator/Imperatrix) after their name. This was also used on many British coins, including some 1948 coins of George VI.